Current affairs in Istanbul

The history of Istanbul

On its shores Byzas built Byzantium and Constantine built
Constantinople. The city became Istanbul when the Turks swept
across the straits in the 15th century, making it the capital of
the sprawling Ottoman Empire that lasted, miraculously, from well
before the time of Columbus until the eve of World War I. When the
new Turkish Republic was forged in the 1920s, they gave Istanbul a
break, moving the capital east to Ankara. But the city on the
Bosphorus remains Turkey's pre-eminent presence, the focus on all
culture and commerce, and witness to the greatest shipping lane
within hailing distance of thousands of bedroom windows.

More than 50,000 international vessels transit the straits every
year - almost 140 a day or one every 10 minutes - from oil tankers
to tramp steamers, from Chinese container vessels to cruise liners.
Add to this the local boats - ferries, water taxis, yachts,
dinghies, motor launches, tiny fishing caiques - and it amounts to
a thrilling panorama of ships. At the end of the best streets,
there will always be boats bobbing by. If the Bosphorus is not the
backdrop to your visit to Istanbul, you are in all the wrong
places.